Black woman shot by police in her home while holding her 5 year old son in one arm

And a shotgun in her other arm.

According to the story, several officers arrived at her home to serve warrants to her for a failed traffic court appearance and to a man residing in the home on an assault charge.

When the officers entered the residence, she was on the floor holding her son, while holding a shotgun at the same time.

Officers attempted to negotiate with her for several hours, before things went sour and she threatened to shoot the officers unless they leave.

One of the officers fired at her, she returned fire, and the remaining officers fired at her and killed her. Her son was struck by one of the rounds, but the injury is expected to be non-life threatening. The man in the house fled with a one-year old, but was later caught by police.

There is outrage over the shooting, as well as posts online telling her to rest in peace and offering condolences for her son, since he won't grow up with a mother.

Obviously, there will be controversy over this situation. She was the ninth black woman shot and killed by police this year according to reports. Even though the story given justifies the actions of the officers, people are going to question what actually happened, and people are asking for the body cam footage.

Thoughts? Assuming that the official story is what actually happened, do you think that the officers were justified? Or should they have attempted to find another way to resolve the situation?

I have no idea what happened here but the fact that officers were visiting a home about "a failed traffic court appearance" and end up killing her demonstrates the absurdity of the USA at the moment. Whoever is to blame.

She deserved it.

You don't aim a firearm at a police officer unless you want to get killed.

Sometimes it turns out ok.

You're kidding, right? What is there to talk about? Cops were out serving a warrant, the looney toon decided to whip out a shotgun on them (Giving the cops every right to blow her away right then and there), and she even involved her 5 year old kid. I really don't think anyone deserves death but some shootings are justified and I can't see it going any other way in this case. I applaud the cops for even sticking around for hours attempting to negotiate with her given the situation they were in...

If anything, everyone should be mad at that POS woman who decided she wanted to involve her 5 year old kid in such a dangerous situation...

A failed traffic court appearance means she's been failing to pay her ticket for months, or years, even. You don't get summoned in court for nothing. And it's not like they were there to specifically shoot her. She's the one who put herself in that situation.

My guess would be stupidity from all concerned but that is only a hunch at this point.

@tocool340: It may seem like there is nothing to talk about, but there was outrage over the shooting, calling it another police-sanctioned murder of a black person. The only reason I even saw this story is on Yahoo's front page, the headline only mentioned that she was the ninth black woman to be shot and killed by police this year, and you had to actually read the story to find out that it was because she was pointing a shotgun at the police.

If police really were out to kill blacks, that baby wouldn't be alive...

Knew there was going to be a twist to the headline

Good work

She deserved it. You don't point a weapon at a cop, it's open season on your ass after that.

Yeah, its on MSN homepage too and that's where I read about it. Still, the media is pissing me off with its race-baiting, anti-cop propaganda bullshit....

But did you know that blacks are only 10% of the population and make up 99% of all murders by cops? Those percentages aren't the same!

Sucks that child's mother was such a moron.

I would like to believe the child has a chance of being better off now but that's probably not true.

Glad I live in a state where cops don't go door to door just to serve a lousy bench warrant.

If that's an accurate description of what happened then it was beyond justified, I would also have a hard time empathizing with a mother who purposefully puts her child in harms way like that.

If that is indeed how it happened then I would say that the police were justified. Poor kid. No doubt that was a traumatic incident. A mother shouldn't intentionally put their child in danger like that.

Sadly I agree with you.

This wouldn't be a story if the woman wasn't a fvcking idiot who aimed a gun at a cop while holding her child.

I'm a bit concerned about that aspect too.

What an idiot, and then what's worse is the media trying to spin this as a hate crime from cops! The lady was mentally ill, and she used her own child to shield herself, talk about selfishness at its finest! Also, if you're pointing a gun at the officer and threatening to kill them, then you are shown as Hostile!

I really feel bad about her kids on not having a mother...

Yeah, obviously the details of the story make it pretty clear the cops are not to blame, but sadly there are a lot of people who never read past the subject line before they decide they have to comment/debate. However, if we are criticizing people who engage in that practice, we should also include probably about half of the people who post on Gamespot...

-Byshop

My stance on this.

Do you expect the court to wait for the person to appear, if ever? There are consequences for not appearing.

I read an article saying she discharged a shotgun at the police. Not sure if true or just heresay. But that may contribute to you getting shot by police.

Uh also an assault charge on a male.

I'm sorry for the child but no sympathy for her. Stupidity will get you in the end. Not much of a mother either to put her child in danger.

"When the officers entered the residence, she was on the floor holding her son, while holding a shotgun at the same time."

IF you are holding a shotgun, you better be ready to kill or be killed if the cops come into your house. BLM will be all over this, talking about how peaceful she was. That crowd does not like statistics and facts anyway....

@ad1x2: "She was the ninth black woman shot and killed by police this year according to reports."

9th black woman?

Anyway, this story sounds it's not the whole truth at all.

I gotta agree, she should have put the gun down. There are tons of other cases of innocent people getting killed by cops, she is not one.

Assuming the story is accurate, she's a piece of shit for using her child as a human shield and I'm glad she's dead

Chances are, if she lived through this, she would be in jail until her kids are almost through high school (longer if she actually killed one of the cops) and she would never get custody back. The kid was going to be without a mother either way.

@k--m--k: "it is okay, the grandmother will raise the child now. like every black kid lol"

What you trying to say?

@jut:"Assuming the story is accurate, "

What if it isn't accurate?

@PSP107: You and I both know what he is trying to say. It's the typical racist comment on OT we are supposed to tolerate and not say anything against. That would be too politically correct.

Holding a gun and using her own son as a meatshield.

There is history between this woman and the police.

This woman was trying to make a martyr out of herself and instructed her son to fight the police every step of the way. All they wanted to do was write her a ticket, but instead, they ended up arresting her, impounding her car and taking her kids. This ultimately led to the police coming down to her apartment with a warrant for her arrest. This traffic stop was supposed to be minor. All that was wrong was her not having tags and it being uninsured. Ms. Gaines instigated everything here. She was offered NUMEROUS opportunities to diffuse the situation but instead convinced herself that they were going to kill her, and unfortunately she got her wish, but the police DID NOT WANT TO KILL HER.

It's disheartening that social media is trying to lump this together as another hate crime, which if you took a single second to consider what led up to this unfortunate event, it was not. People are still trying to make her out as a martyr anyway with Twitter and the hashtag #SayHerName. No, she shouldn't be remembered, at least not for that reason. If you're going to remember her at all, remember her as an unfit mother, defiant in her ways and cost her life and got her son shot. This is a prime example of what happens when you let your hatred for police go unchecked. She brought this upon herself.

At this point I don't blame the officers, if you deal with a lot of black people and the majority of them resist arrest or cause issues then you will get an idea that you need to be more cautious with them. Totally understandable, also the fact she had a gun makes it worse.

But social media will still call her a martyr without looking into the actual details of the case, when you create a group of people who you have conditioned to have no standards and mindlessly buy things without any research into them, what do you expect? The whole reason BlackLivesMatter came about was because people didn't do their research and came out of university with useless degrees, the same people who protest for BLM use iPhones and mindlessly buy Apple products, they are the biggest champagne socialists I've seen in my life.

Very sad all around. It sounds like the cops are in the right with this situation.

Great post! And I agree! What she did was not common sense!

................... What the hell are you even talking about? I would like to know where in the west you can avoid court summons and not have the police knocking on your door sooner or later.... And no the absurdity here rests on the perpetrator who brandished a deadly weapon, refused arrest, and held hostage their 5 year old.... The way you word this is priceless, as if your insinuating the police who are upholding the law with a failed court summons is some how just as to blame as the woman who resisted arrest with a shotgun and held their child hostage.. This apologism is priceless.

@mark1974: I guess you either can't read or you have little to no comprehension skills what so ever.

It doesn't matter why they were there, she pointed and FIRED a shotgun at the officers, or does that part mean nothing to you?

@vfighter: Man, you are a nasty one for no particular reason. I dont recall defending her.

@sSubZerOo: I have never lived anywhere were the police would visit your home for a bench warrant. They would arrest you if pulled over though. Also I insinuated nothing and actually said I don't know what happened or who is to blame. Nothing short of praising these officers will do for you?

Appears to be a pretty clear-case of justified deadly force, although I'm not surprised that social justice warriors are pretending to be experts again.

She got her wish. She caused the entire thing to happen and was a POS for a mother.